Romance novelist who faked her own death reveals what drove her to it

[ZodWallop]

Has anyone read a book by Meachan? I wonder if the stunt increased her sales?

Romance novelist allegedly faked her own death, only to announce she’s alive two years later - Paywall

Romance novelist who faked her own death reveals what drove her to it

The Romance Novelist Who Faked Her Own Death

There's also an interview with the New York Times, but that is paywalled as well.

[SteveEisenberg]

The New York Times story went out on their wire service and can be legitimately seen without a paywall here:

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...romancelandia/

[Quoth]

It's not the craziest.
Agatha Christie hid. Did she decide on the spur of the moment after accidentally crashing her car, or was it a failed sucide attempt? Much is still unknown.
A writer that vanished was discovered years later to have been murdered by her partner. Then they investigated his first wife's death.
A woman was allegedly researching for a book called "how to murder your husband" and murdered her husband.
A painter faked his death but was caught because he couldn't resist painting new works (Not sure if that one is real).

After major accidents some people "missing" afterwards are thought to have simply used it as an opportunity to "run away".

I don't know the truth of the Meachan story, but there have been a few cases of writers inventing fake histories. Recently an English woman living in Tralee won a competition with a life story that is a lie and was using a false ID to live in Ireland. She's vanished again.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I don't know the truth of the Meachan story, but there have been a few cases of writers inventing fake histories.

The Meachan story is true. It would be less sad/more glamorous if it were a fabrication.

[DuskyRose]

I'm not surprised. I think that in most groups there are those that like to act badly. Whether it's for personal financial gain, or for attention, they prey on those around them.

Some to even pretending at conventions to be what they're not, in order to get people to trust them so they could mind them for their personal stories, then write those stories out as fiction, without telling the person they befriended.

I don't know what the author's story really is, because I'm not inclined to believe anything they say. Taking a break for mental health is one thing, playing dead and then sitting back to watch their own funeral is another.

I'd say I'd avoid her books, but I don't pick those kind up anyway. I just find it sad what her friends went through.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Meachan story is true. It would be less sad/more glamorous if it were a fabrication.

I mean the details. Exactly what amount of bullying etc. I didn't doubt the overall story. Obviously people assumed she was dead and she isn't. It's a sad story.

[Catlady]

I don't know if it's a sad story or just a strange story. That she is a romance author seems to be tangential; it's a little hard for me to imagine that this kind of writers' group is especially bullying. Maybe she interpreted honest criticism as bullying?

When I first heard about the fake death, I assumed it was a ploy to help sell books. The NYT article makes it more about the woman's mental health, but it's still strange. Couldn't she abandon social media without pretending to be dead and betraying her online friends and readers like that?

I looked her up on Amazon, and her books are in Kindle Unlimited. I read the first few pages of one of them; the writing was pedestrian at best, though not completely horrid.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I don't know if it's a sad story or just a strange story. That she is a romance author seems to be tangential; it's a little hard for me to imagine that this kind of writers' group is especially bullying. Maybe she interpreted honest criticism as bullying?

I have a friend writing period romance--the usual, Austen-era stuff. And I've been shocked at the outrageous bullying that goes on in that area of writing. I mean...I know that writer-bullying exists. I'm hardly naïve; I've been in writing and critique groups, after all.

But I was surprised at the amount of abuse that could be heaped over something nitpicky. I saw one writer get dragged over the coals--wrongly, mind you--over a detail about tacking up and driving a horse in a cart. This was their seminar group leader, a published author. Didn't know that she was talking to someone with bona fide expertise in the area.

My friend didn't speak up, because there were other aspects in play and it was too risky--but the seminar leader was totally and completely wrong and made my friend seem like an idiot. I was not happy about it. I actually wanted to write to Writer's Digest, or whatever (legit) company it was, that hosted it, but she insisted I not. I saw the emails and group messages, though--nasty beyond belief.

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

What made up my mind was the flippant and utter lack of remorse with which she announced her "comeback". As if she lied about going on vacation or something.

Regardless of any validity to her (or her family's) reasons/decision to fake her suicide, online friends who mourned her deserved better then "let the fun begin."

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

What made up my mind was the flippant and utter lack of remorse with which she announced her "comeback". As if she lied about going on vacation or something.

Regardless of any validity to her (or her family's) reasons/decision to fake her suicide, online friends who mourned her deserved better then "let the fun begin."

Honestly, she should be bloody shunned. Absolutely and her sales should go through the floor. Actions are meant to have consequences, in any day and age. People can be "cancelled" for speaking their minds today--we don't any longer really have the sort of freedom of speech that we had, 50 years ago--so why shouldn't she lose her privileges, as a 'dead author' now that she's an undead author? Screw that stuff.

Hitch

[Deskisamess]

I glanced at her 1 star reviews. Folks are not happy. Rightly so.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I glanced at her 1 star reviews. Folks are not happy. Rightly so.

Good. I am a vengeful sort. Definite character flaw, but, there you go. You gotta do you and I'm glad if she suffers for this nonsense.

n.b.: on the other hand, hell, she might be truly mentally ill. IF that's the case, I withdraw my comments. Just being a self-absorbed narcissist, though, does not count.

Hitch

[Hemmi]

And people wonder why I'm not on social media.

I read almost exclusively romance books of all genres and ends of the racy spectrum. I've never heard of this woman or her books or her "death" or resurrection until now.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

And people wonder why I'm not on social media.

I read almost exclusively romance books of all genres and ends of the racy spectrum. I've never heard of this woman or her books or her "death" or resurrection until now.

I've never heard of her either.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I've never heard of her either.

I don't think many have.

On the plus side, maybe she can spin it into a romance novel!